Author. 



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Title 



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Book 






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16—47372-1 ftPO 



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MEMBERS 



New Jersey Assembly, 



1754- 



Biographical Sketches. 



\, 



BY WILLIAM NELSON. 



PATERSON, N. J.: 

The Pkhss Pkintint. and Piulishinc; Co., 26.; Main Sikkivi'. 

1895. 



4- Vt %A ■ ' — 



MEMBERS 



New Jersey Assembly, 



1754- 



Biographical Sketches. 



By WILLIAM NELSON. 



PATERSON, N. J. : 
The Press Printlng and Pcblishing Co., zqC Main Street. 

1895. 






One Hundred Copies Printed. 

GIFT 

WK. WOODROW WiLSOW 

HeV. 29, 1939 



The following sketches of the men elected to the New Jersey Assembly m 
the Summer of 1754, were prepared from time to time as foot-notes for the several 
volumes of the New Jersey Archives, most of them for Vol. XIX. The demand 
for information regarding the comparatively unknown statesmen of Colonial days 
has induced the author to bring these notices together, with some slight revision, 
for the greater convenience of those interested in such matters. The critical 
reader will observe that very little is known of some of the Assemblymen named. 
The writer will be pleased to have additional information regarding any of the 
subjects of these memoirs. 

Paterson, N. J., Feb. 22, 1895. 



ii w ^m 1 ' i » * ■! '"^' 



CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Richard Bradbury, Essex Ii 

Samuel Clement, Gloucester iS 

Jacob Dehart, Essex ii 

Hendrick Fisher, Somerset 12 

William Hancock, Salem 18 

John Hoagland, Somerset 13 

James Holmes, Monmouth 12 

John Johnston, City of Perth Amboy 7 

John l-add, Gloucester 17 

Robert Lawrence, Monmouth 11 

Aaron Leaming, Cape May 19 

Peter Middagh, Hunterdon 21 

Ebenezer Miller, Salem tg 

Samuel Nevill, Middlesex 9 

Barzillai Newbold, Burlington 17 

Henry Pax son, Burlington 17 

Charles Read, City of Burlington 14 

Samuel Smith, City of Burlington 16 

Jacob Spicer, Cape May 19 

John Stevens, City of Perth Amboy 8 

Rynier Van Giesen, Bergen 13 

George Vreeland, Bergen 13 

John Wetherill, Middlesex 10 

Joseph Yard, Hunterdon 20 



New Jersey Assemblymen, 1754, 



City of Perth Amboy— 

Jolin jfohnston, 
John Stevens. 

John Johnston was a grandson of "Doctor" John Johnstone, the progenitor of the Perth 
Amboy family. The latter was a druggist in Edinburgh, and became interested with George 
Scot, the Laird of Pitlochie, in populating East Jersey with Scottish immigrants, sailing in 
the "Henry and Francis," in 1685, with two hundred passengers, most of whom had been 
imprisoned and then banished for conscience' sake. Scot having died on the voyage, 
Johnstone took charge of the expedition. — Hist, of the Sufft-rings of the Church of Scot- 
lanii, etc., by Robert Wodrow, Edinburgh, 1722, II., 565-7 ; American Hist. Register, I., 
44. On arriving in America, Dr. Johnstone located in New York, and married Eupham, 
daughter of George Scot, April 18, 16S6 ; about 1701 he became interested in New Jersey, 
and soon after, probably, established a residence at Perth Amboy. — Whitehead's Perth 
Amboy, 69-71. He was elected to the Assembly from Middlese.x county in 1709 and re- 
elected in 1710 ; and was again chosen in 1727 and re-elected in 1730, serving twelve years 
in all ; he was Speaker, 1722, 1725-8, four years. — Assembly Minutes, passim. In the 
meantime, he was still so far identified with New York that he was appointed a member 
of the Council of that Province, sitting in that body from Aug. 21, 1716, until July 27, 1721, 
and retaining his membership until he was superseded in 1723, on the recommendation of 
Gov. William Burnet, who complained that Johnstone had been a resident of New Jersey 
for more than two years prev'\ous\y.— Journal N. Y. Legislative Council, 403-477 ; N. J. 
Archives, \.,yo; N. Y. Col. Docs., Y.,(:^(j. He died Sept. 6, 1732, in his seventy-first 
year.— N.J. Archives, XL, 299 ; Smith's Hist. N.J., 424. He had si.x sons, the oldest be- 
ing John Johnston (the Doctor's children all dropped the final e), second, born May 7, 1691 ; 
married, May 19, 1717, Elizabeth, daughter of David Jamison, sometime Attorney General 
of New York, and Chief Justice of New Jersey, 1713-23.— iV. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, V. , 
171. He settled on an estate of his father's called Scotschester, in Monmouth county, 
where he was an influential man, being Lieutenant-Colonel of Militia, and High Sheriff of 
the county, resigning the latter office April 4, 1720.— A". /. Archives, XIV., 137-9. Gov. 
Robert Hunter appointed him a member of the Council, April 9,1718; he was re-appointed 
May 31, 1720, and sat in that body continuously so late as July 31, 1731.-/15., 76,457 ; V.,3. 
He was appointed, Nov. 6, 1728, one of the New Jersey commissioners to try pirates.— 
16. ,Y., 197. He died Sept. 6, 1731. His second child and first son was John Johnston, 



thirds born July 7, 1719. — -V. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, V., 171. Of his earlv life we have 
no account whatever, further than the fact of his marriage to his cousin Euphemia, daug-h- 
ter of his uncle, Andrew Johnston, of Perth Amboy, by whom he had no issue. — White- 
head's Perth Ainboy, 72. He was elected to the Assembly from that city in 1751. and was 
re-elected in 1754. In the latter year he was named by law as one of the signers of the 
bills of credit of the Province. — Asaembly J//«?//fj, passim ; N. J. Archives, VIII., Part 
II., 39. When the campaign of 1758 against the French was projected, as a member of 
the Assembly he voted to contribute 1,000 men toward the invading forces, and gave up 
his seat in the Legislature to accept a commission, dated March 10, 1758, as Colonel in the 
Provincial troops. Col. Peter Schuyler and Col. John Parker, who had previously com- 
manded the "Jersey Blues," being both paroled prisoners at this time. — Assembly Min- 
utes: Gordon's Hist, of N.J. ,z.->,\\ Allinson's Laivs^'zo^, ii6\ N. V. Co/. Dots., X., 444, 
591,617,624; IVyfine's British Empire, II., 65, 71-73. The organization was known as 
"Col. Johnston's Jersey Regiment," in the disastrous attack made by the British and 
American soldiers on the French at Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758. — N. Y. Col. Docs., X., 732. 
Johnston was assigned to rank as ninth of the fourteen Provincial Colonels in that cam- 
paign. — Hist. Mag., August, 1871, p. 114. He was second in rank on the Oneida station 
in August of that year, says Whitehead (Hist. Perth Amboy, 72), but no authority has been 
found for the statement. In the brilliant and successful siege of Fort Niagara, in July, 
1759, Brigadier General Prideau.x, commander of the British and American forces, was 
killed on the night of the 19th of that month, by the bursting of a shell, carelessly fired by 
a gunner from a cohorn, just as the General was passing. — Knox's Hist. Journal, I., 403 ; 
N. Y. Col. Docs., VII., 390. The promising career of Col. Johnston was cut short by a 
cannon ball a day or two after.— A^. Y. Col. Docs., VII., 399 ; ^V. K Hist. Soc. Coll.,Xl'V., 
85 ; Hist. 0/ Late War in North America, etc., by Thomas Mante, London, 1772, 229-230. 
The New York Mercury, of August 6, 1759, states that a letter from in front of Fort Niag- 
ara, dated July 21, gives the "disagreeable news" that "Gen. Prideau.v was killed by the 
bursting of one of our cohorns, and that Col. Johnston, of the New York Regiment, was 
killed." This fixes very closely the date of Col. Johnston's death. The ascribing him to 
the "New York" Regiment is of course an error. In the Diary of Sir William Johnson 
(who assumed the command of the British and American troops on the death of Gen. 
Prideau.x, routed the French and Indian army on the march to succor the beleaguered, on 
July 24, and received the surrender of the garrison on July 25), quoted in his Life, by Wil- 
liam L. Stone, p. 395, is this entry : "July 28— Buried Brigadier General Prideaux, in the 
Chapel, and Colonel Johnson with a great deal of form. I was chief mourner." Surely 
so gallant an officer, who fell bravely fighting in a most remarkable campaign, merits more 
notice than he has hitherto received at the hands of historians. It has been a pleasure to 
the writer to glean from widely-scattered and musty records the scanty notices herewith 
given and to weave them into a connected narrative, meagre though it be, of the ances-' 
try, the life and the death of this unknown hero. 

John Stevens was born at Perth .\mboy, N. J., about 1715-17, being the son of John 
Stevens, who had emigrated in 1699 from Middlesex county, England, to New York, where 
he studied law, removing in 1714 to Perth Amboy, where he married the oldest daughter 
of John Campbell, a prominent citizen of that town, and died in 1737. The younger John 
Stevens, with his brother Campbell, carried on a mercantile business, principally with the 



— 9 — 

West Indies and Madeira Islands, and for six years sailed in command of his own vessels. 
In 1 761 he retired from active mercantile life, devoting himself principally to the manage- 
ment of his extensive landed estates and copper mines at Rocky Hill, New Jersey. In 1751 
he was elected a member of the General .Assembly which first met at Perth Amboy, 
and during the ne.xt ten years took a leading part in that body. In 1755 he was one of the 
committee empowered to build a chain of block forts to protect the New Jersey frontiers' 
against the incursions of the Indians, and three years later was on the commission which 
negotiated a lasting peace with the Indians. From 1756 to 17C0 he acted as Paymaster of 
the "Jersey Blues," in the French War. In April, 1752, he took a town house in New 
York, and in 1761 purchased No. 7 Broadway, then in the most fashionable neighborhood 
in the city, which he occupied for the ensuing ten years. Gov. Bernard recommended his 
appointment to the Council in 1758, but he was not appointed until January 2, 1762. He 
sat thereafter in that body until its dissolution, in 1775, and exercised a great influence in 
its deliberations. He was one of the most prominent opposers in New York City of the 
obnoxious Stamp act in 1765. In 1771 he built in Lebanon Valley, Hunterdon county, N. 
J., a few miles south of the present Lebanon station on the Central railroad, a large and 
elegant residence, known as the Stevens mansion, which he made his home for nearly 
all the rest of his days. He was one of the commissioners to adjust the northern bound- 
ary in 1774. In June, 1776, he resigned his seat in the Council, and was chosen to 
represent Hunterdon county in the Provincial Congress, which met in August, 1776. 
He was unanimously elected Vice-President of the Council, and was continued in that 
position for six years, when he was sent to the Continental Congress, November 6, 1782. 
He was President of the New Jersey Convention of 1787, which ratified the Federal Con- 
stitution, and this appropriately closed his long and notable career. He was a zealous 
Episcopalian, for many years a vestryman and warden of St. Peter's Church at Perth Am- 
boy, a liberal contributor to other churches, and was a delegate to the Convention which 
met at New Brunswick, May 13-14, 1774, to form a union of the Episcopal churches of 
America. His latter days were spent with his son. Colonel John Stevens, at Hoboken, 
where he died in May, 1792, and was buried at the Frame Meeting House, in Bethlehem 
township, Hunterdon county, which he had contributed largely to build. He married, 
in 1748, Elizabeth, second daughter of James Alexander and sister of Lord Stirling. She 
survived him eight years. They had two children— John, the eminent inventor, and Mary, 
wife of Chancellor Livingston, of New York. See sketch of John Stevens, by Richard F. 
Stevens, in the N. Y. Gen. and Biog. Record, XV., 145-150. 

Middlesex County— 

Samuel Nevill, 
John Wetherill. 

Samuel Nevill, son of John and Mary Nevill, of Stafford, England, was born in 1698, 
was a man of liberal education, a lawyer by profession, and for some time editor of the 
London Daily PostA He had a brother John and a sister Sarah, who was the second 

' Mr. Whitehead and others say Mr. Nevill's editorial connection was with the London 
Morning Post. According to "English Newspapers, Chapters in the History of English 
Journalism," by H. R. Fo.x Bourne, London, 1887, there- was no such paper as 
2 



we^n^BB^PiMiwi^"H 



— 10 — 

wife of Peter Sonmans, to whom she was married October 17, 1723. He died March 26, 
1734, at Elizabethtown, in his sixty-seventh year, and by his will made his wife, Sarah 
Nevill, his sole heir and executrix. She married second, Christopher Gildemeester, in 1735, 
but her husband died in November, and she on December ist, of the same year, in her 
thirty-sixth year, and was buried beside her first husband, in St. John'e church yard, Eliz- 
abethtown. Her brother Samuel as her eldest brother was her heir-at-law, and he came 
to America in May, 1736, to settle up the estate. Directly after his arrival he agreed to 
divide the estate with Dr. Peter Sonmans, of Philadelphia (who married Barthea Wilson, 
January 8, 1737), son of Peter Sonmans, and his own brother, John Nevill. Each of the 
three parties was to have an equal share in the estate after the debts were paid. In 1745 
he obtained a release from Dr. Peter Sonmans. He settled on the Sonmans estate at 
Perth Amboy, where his brother John was already a resident. He was a vestryman of 
St. Peter's Church in J741, and one of the wardens, 1742-62. He was twice elected to the 
Assembly from Middlesex county, serving 1743-49, 1754-64, and was Speaker of that body 
1744-45, 1748-51. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex county in 1746, 
and to be one of the quorum of the Court of Common Pleas ; was Mayor of 
Perth Amboy in 1758, and in January, 1749, was appointed Second Judge of the Supreme 
Court, which office he held until his death. In 1752 he published a compilation of the laws 
of New Jersey, and in 1761 a second volume, continuing the laws down to that time. In 
1754 he was associated with James Alexander as one of the counsel of the East Jersey 
Council of Proprietors. In January, 1758, James Parker, of Woodbridge, issued the first 
number of "The New American Magazine," which was the first periodical published in 
New Jersey, and the sixth in America, superseding in the following October "The Amer- 
ican Magazine," which had been published by William Bradford since October, 1757, at 
Philadelphia. Samuel Nevill was editor of the new magazine, using the pen name "Syl- 
vanus Americanus." It was an excellent periodical for that day, well printed, and well 
edited. It was continued until March, 1760. It is one of the scarcest of American period- 
icals. The writer of this sketch knows of no perfect copies outside of the libraries of the 
New York Historical Society and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, although he has 
twenty-five of the twenty-seven numbers issued. Stricken with palsy in the winter of 
1763-64, Judge Nevill died October 27, 1764, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, and was 
buried in St. Peter's Church yard, Perth Amboy, beside his wife, who had died in 1755. 
They left no children. He was evidently a man of high character, of fine, scholarly at- 
tainments, a polished gentleman, an honest and capable judge, and an exemplary citizen 
in every walk in life. See Whitehead's Perth Amboy, 120-124 ; N. J. Archives, VI., VII., 
VIII., IX., passim; XL, 469; XVI., 85-86; XVII., 374; i Pennsylvania Archives, III., 206 ; 
Marriage Records Christ Church, Philadelphia, in 2 Pa. Archives, VIII., 239. For a 
speech by Judge Nevill, delivered in pronouncing sentence of death upon three murderers, 
in 1750, see N. J. Archives, XII., 631-36. Other speeches of his are printed in the Eliza- 
bethtown Bill in Chancery. 

John Wetherill was first elected to the Assembly in 1749, and was returned by Middle- 
sex County in 1751, 1754, 1761, 1769 and 1772. In 1774 he was appointed by the Assembly 

the London Morning Post, at this period. There were The Daily Post, edited by Daniel 
Defoe, The Postboy, The P.venitig Post, The Flying Post, The Postman, The Halfpenny 
Post, The Whitehall Evening Post. — Op. cit., I., 106, 116, 119. 



— II — 

on a Standing Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry to correspond with the other 
Colonies for the common advancement of American liberty; he was a member of the 
Provincial Congress which met in May, June and August, 1775, and in January, 1776; also 
of the Provincial Convention of June, 1776. He was also commissioned Colonel of the 
Second Battalion of Militia of Middlesex County, but on account of indisposition and ad- 
vancing age was constrained to resign his commission in August, 1776. During the Rev- 
olution his home at South Brunswick was raided by the British, and he was damaged, as 
he estimated, to the extent of ;Cii, 8s. His will, dated April 2, 1784, was proved April 
19, 1784. 

Essex County— 

Jacob DeJiart, 
Richard Bradbury. 

Jacob Dehart, b. in 1700, was the son of Matthias Dehart ; the latter, b. 1667, was the 
natural son of Balthazar De Haerdt and Mrs. Margaret Backer, wid. of Jacob Backer, a 
prominent New York merchant, and sister of Petrus Stuyvesant, the famous Director-Gen- 
eral of New Amsterdam. Jacob was a vestryman in St. John's Episcopal Church, Eliza- 
bethtown, in 1749, and was one of the wardens named in the charter of Jufy 20, 1762. He 
was elected to the Assembly in 1754, but accepting an office of profit, soon after (prior to 
August, 1757), his seat was vacated. At the time of the threatened outbreak on the west- 
ern frontier, in 1756, he was commissioned Colonel in command of the New Jersey 
forces along the Delaware river. He m. Abigail Crane; he d. Sept. 21, 1777; she d. June 
10, 1770, in her 67th year. Of their children, Matthias, their eldest son, was a physi- 
cian, who d. April 29, 1766, in his 43d year; Jacob, their second son, was a sea captain, and 
d. at Port-au-Prince, in 1758, in his 31st year. See Hatfield's Hist, of Elizabeth, 249-51, 
256; Hist. St. John's Church, Elizabethtown, 89 ; Inscriptions on Tombstones, etc. , in St. 
John's Church Burying Ground, p. 308. 

Richard Bradbury was the only son of John Bradburj-, who probably built the first mill 
on the Third River, near the present Avondale, in 1698 or earlier. John Bradbury's will 
was proved Sept. 7, 1740. Richard's seat in the Legislature was vacated, and John Ogden 
was chosen in his place, appearing as a member in .A.pril, 1762. Richard died intestate, in 
1770 or earlier. For a sketch of the Bradbury family and the descendants of John Brad- 
bury (the Ludlow, Berry, Baldwin. Van Riper and other families), see History of Pat- 
erson, by William Nelson, 158-9, note. 

Monmouth County— 

Robert Lazvrence, 
James Holmes. 

Robert Lawrence was probably a grandson of Elisha Lawrence, b. in 1666, and d. May 
27, 1724, who settled in the latter part of the seventeenth century at Cheesequakes, south 
of the Raritan, and engaged in business as a merchant, but afterwards removed to Upper 
Freehold, Monmouth County. Robert was first elected to the Assembly from that Coun- 



ty in 1743, and was re-elected in 1744, 1745, 1746, 1749, 175I) i754, serving continuously 
from 7743 until 1761 ; he was Speaker, 1746-47, 1754-58, and appears to have taken the 
side of the people in their controversies with the Governor and the Proprietors. Admin- 
istration was granted on his estate, May 15, 1788. 

James Holmes was a descendant of Obadiah Holmes, a native of Preston, Lancashire, 
England, who came to America in 1639, working at his trade as a "glassman," remaining 
among the Presbyterians at Salem and Rehoboth, Mass., until 1650, when he became a 
Baptist, for which change of religious views he was scourged at Boston in September, 
1651. In 1652 he succeeded the Rev. Mr. Clark in the pastorate of the first Baptist church 
at Newport, R. I., continuing therein until his death, Oct. 15, 1682, aged 76 years. He 
had eight children. One of them, Obadiah Holmes, second, b. 1644, removed from Rhode 
Island and settled at Cohansey, Salem county, N. J., in 1685, where he married into the 
Cole family, was a Judge of Salem court twelve years, and occasionally preached in the 
Baptist church at Cohansey. Another son of Obadiah Holmes, first, was Jonathan, who 
m. Sarah Borden (b. 1644), and settled at Middletown, Monmouth county, N. J., where he 
is found as early as Dec. 31, 1667, but in 1684 was of Newport, R. I. By his will, proved 
Nov. 2, 1713, he devised his lands in Middletovv'n, N. J., to his sons Obadiah and Jonathan. 
They were probably already on the premises, as by deed in December, 1705, they gave 
part of the site for the Baptist church at Middletown, to which benefaction Jonathan add- 
ed a bequest of £i,oa by his will, dated Jan. 4, 1737. — Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode 
Island, by James Osborne Austin, Albany, 1S87, pp. 103-4 ! Materials towards a History 
of Baptists in New Jersey, by Morgan Edwards, Philadelphia, 1792, pp. 11-13, 30-33; 
Hist. Monmouth County, 521. James Holmes was probably a son of Obadiah, third, and 
grandson of Jonathan. He was a merchant in New York, but lived in Monmouth County, 
where he married Helena, dau. of John Lawrence, son of Elisha. In 1758 he was assessed 
on 700 acres of land in Upper Freehold. Holmes was elected to the Assembly from Mon- 
mouth County in 1751, and was re-elected in 1754 and in 1761, but died within a year or 
two, it is said, and was succeeded by John Anderson, who was a member in May, 1763. 
Letters of administration were granted on the estate of one James Holmes, Aug. 25, 1777. 

Somerset County— 

Hcndrick Fisher, 
JoJin Hoagland. 

Hendrick Fisher was b. in 1697, in the Palatinate, and came to this country when 
young, taking up his residence near Bound Brook. He was received into the Dutch 
church in 1721, and held various offices in the church thereafter, being also a lay preacher. 
He was elected to the Assembly from Somerset in 1740, but was declared ineligible, on the 
ground that not enough time had elapsed since his naturalization, which had taken place 
only the preceding session. He stated that he had been informed he had a right to sit as 
a member of the Assembly by virtue of an act of Parliament passed in Queen Anne's 
reign, which naturalized other Germans, the provisions of the same act being thought to 
include him. Thomas Leonard, however, was chosen in his place, and took his seat May 
28, 1740. Mr. Fisher was again elected in 1745, and qualified without objection. He 



— 13 — 

was re-elected in 1746, 1749, 1751, 1754, 1761, 1769 and 1772, representing his county con- 
tinuously for thirty years. In 1775 he was elected a member of the first Provincial Con- 
gress of New Jersey, of which body he was chosen President at the sitting in May of that 
year. At the session in October, 1773, when Samuel Tucker was chosen President, Fisher 
was elected Vice President. He was also a member of the Committee of Safety, appointed 
by the Provincial Congress, Oct. 28, 1775. He proved himself an ardent, able and coura- 
geous friend of his country. He died Aug. 16, 1779, and was buried on his farm. See 
Messler's Hist. Somerset County, 56 ; Assembly Minutes, passim ; Minutes of the Pro- 
vincial Congress, passim. 

John Hoagland (Johannes Hoogland), son of Hendrick, was b. at Flatbush, L. I., about 
1712. His father removed with his family to New Jersey in 1719. About 1745 John bought ' 
176 acres on the east of the Millstone river, Somerset county, adding 40 acres more in 
1754. He was re-elected to the Assembly in 1761. His will was proved Dec. 16, 1777. 
See Hoagland Family in America, p. 185. 

Bergen County— 

George Vreeland, 
Rynier Van Giesen. 

George Vreeland (son of Enoch, son of Michael Jansen, the progenitor of the Vreelands 
of New Jersey) was b. Sept. 25, 1710; d. June 21, 1795. He lived near Caven Point, now in 
Hudson county. His father, Enoch Michielsen (i. e., Enoch, son of Michiel Jansen), was 
a member of the .Assembly in 1707. George (he was baptized Joris, the Dutch for George) 
i^j^^ Vreeland was appointed a Judge of the Esse.x Court of Oyer and Terminer, Dec. 17, 1744, 
and was one of the members of the Assembly from that county in the Thirteenth and Four- 
teenth Assemblies, elected in 1743 and 1744, from which it is inferred that he then resided in 
that county. If so, he probably lived in Acquackanonk, which was the home of his second 
wife, Annelje Van Wagenen. In 1748 and 1754 he bought several large tracts of land at 
Preakness, about four miles west of the present city of Paterson. In a deed dated June 5, 
1758, he is described as of Manachquay (now Moonachie, near Lodi), Bergen county. See 
History of Paterson, by William Nelson, 115. 

Rynier Van Giesen was bap. Nov. 17, 1704, at Bergen, son of Isaac Van Giesen and 
Cornelia Hendricks (m. Aug. 10, 1690). He m. ist, Hendrikje Van Dien, maiden, March 
30, 1728, both being of Hackensack at the time; 2d, Hester Couenhoven, maiden, March 
26, 1744 ; he was still of Hackensack, as was Hester. He had children : By his first wife — 
I. Antje, b. Nov. i, 1730; 2. Gerrit, bap. Aug. 27, 1732; 3. Vrouwtje (Sophronia), bap. 
July 6, 1735; 4. Isaac, bap. Sept. 18, 1737; 5. Hendrick, bap. Dec. 2, 1739; 6. Willem, bap. 
June 6, 1742. By his second wife — 7. Joannes, bap. Nov. 15, 1744; 8. Joris, bap. Oct. 19, 
1746; 9. Hendrickje, bap. Jan. 15, 1749; 10. Samuel, bap. Dec. 25, 1750; 11. Rachel, bap. 
March 25, 1752. Rynier Van Giesen was a Justice of the Peace, 1763-73, and was a 
member of the Board of Justices and Freeholders for several years. In 1763 he lived at 
Secaucus, where he probably resided most of his life. He was re-elected to the Assembly 
from Bergen county in 1754. His will, dated Jan. 4, 1775, was proved May 10, 1783. In it 
he is described as of New Barbadoes, Bergen County. 



— 14 — 
City of Burlington— 

Charles Read, 
Samuel Smith. 

Charles Read was the grandson of Charles Read, first, who came from England and 
settled at Burlington about 1678. Following the fortunes of George Keith he separated 
from the Quakers and identified himself with the Church of England in Philadelphia, 
where he was a merchant for many years, was one of the Aldermen named by Wil- 
liam Penn in 1701, and died in 1705, leaving a son, Charles Read, second, then a minor. 
The second Charles Read was also a merchant of Philadelphia, was a member of the Com- 
mon Council, 1717-1722; an Alderman, 1722-26 ; Mayor, 1726-27 ; Sheriff, 1729-30-31, and 
Alderman again, 1727-36, dying in the last-named year. He was also clerk of the Orphans' 
Court for several years before his death. He was a Vestryman of Christ Church, 
1717-26, and perhaps longer. — Penn. Magazine, IX., 339-43; Smith" s Hist. 0/ N.J., 109 
et seq.; Proud' s Hist. Petm., I., 149-150; Dorr's Hist. Christ Church, 294; Hi/is's 
Church ifi Burlinglpn, 156, 209; Penn. Colonial Ixecords, IV., 151; Phila. Covunon 
Council Minutes, passim. Charles Read, third, was born in Philadelphia about 
1713, son of Charles Read, second, by his first wife, Anne Bond. He was educated in 
Philadelphia, under Ale.\ander Annard. About 1736 his father sent him to London, where 
he was patronized by Sir Charles Wager, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and said to 
be a relation, who appointed him midshipman on the Penzance, man of war, which sailed 
for the West Indies. There he fell in love with the daughter of a wealthy Creole planter 
on the isle of Antigua, whom he married, about 1737-38. He sold out his commission and 
returned to Philadelphia, with his bride and a cargo of rum, consigned (the rum) to him by 
his father-in-law. About 1739 he bought the office of Clerk of Burlington from Peter 
Bard, second, and removed to that town. — N. J. Archives, VII., 150, 381, 650; Papers of 
Lewis Morris, 128. On Dec. 4, 1739, the Council recommended his appointment as Major 
of the Burlington and Gloucester Regiment. — lb., XV., 104. Soon after, he was given the 
office of Collector of the port of Burlington, by Sir Charles Wager, with a salary of ^do 
per annum. In 1740 Chief Justice Morris made him Clerk of the Circuits. In 1744 he suc- 
ceeded Archibald Home, deceased, as Deputy Secretary of the Province, holding the office 
so late as 1760, and was again commissioned, February 16, 1762.— /V««. Mag.,yN\\., 191 ; 
N.J. Archives, VU., 139; VIII., Part II., p. 257; Booh .l.-iA 0/ Commissions, Trenton, fol. 
339, 366. Whether he had ever regularly studied law docs not appear, but he now began 
the practice of the profession, and soon had the largest business of any attorney in the 
Province, although he is said to have been "not very faithful to his client's cause, and to 

have been a better Judge than lawyer A fine memory, understood the law 

well, spoke very well off hand, but short and to the purpose, not capable of arranging and 
delivering a long train of ideas, nor of replying and mending his first essay, either 
in speech or writing." — Diary 0/ Aaron Learning, in Penn. Mag., XVII., 192. He was 
elected to the Assembly for Burlington City in 1751, and was re-elected in 1754, continu- 
ing in the House until called up to the Council m 1768.— .(V.y. .Archives, IX., 127, 151. He 
was one of the Surrogates for both East and West Jersey, Commissioner to treat with the 
Indians at Crosswicks, in 1755, Commissioner for New Jersey at the Easton Conference 
with the Indians in 1758 (when he signed his name "Charles Read, Jr."), and was entrusted 



— 15 — 

with a variety of other positions of honor and profit.— /^., 151, 283, 359 ; XV., 464; XVI., 
585 ; Pcnn. Col. Records, VIII. , 175. He was commissioned a Judge of the Supreme Court, 
August 17, 1753, and the same day was hcensed as an attorney and counsellor. He re- 
signed from the bench April 30, 1754, being succeeded by Richard Saltar; upon the death 
of the latter he was again appointed, Nov. 24, 1762. When Chief Justice Robert Hunter 
Morris died, Read was appointed Chief Justice, February 20, 1764, an appointment that 
was recommended by Lord Stirling, but criticised by William Smith, the historian.— A^./. 
Archivei.VS.., 424,427; XVI., 458; XVII., 324; Life of Lord Stirling, by William A. 
Duer, p. So. Frederick Smyth having superseded him as Chief Justice in the following 
October, Read was again commissioned Associate Justice, November 6. 1764, and held the 
office until his removal from New Jersey.— /';ww'i Sup. Ct. Rules, 47, 45,58. Says 
Aaron Leaming, in the Diary quoted above : "From 1747 to about 1771 he had 
the almost absolute rule of Governor, Council and Assembly in New Jersey, e.xcept dur- 
ing the short ministration of Mr. Boone, who was Governor without a prime minister. I 
have known the Governor and Council to do things against their inclinations to please 
him, and the Assembly have often done so. He seemed to be their leader. During that 
time he took the disposal of all the offices. He little consulted the merits of the person he 
preferred ; the sole object was whether it suited his party principles. . . . His offices 
furnished him with a constant flow of cash. This power and flow of cash enlarged his 
mind above himself. Instead of founding a fortune to his two sons as he ought to have 
done in those prosperous times, he ran upon schemes for the improvement of the country, 
witness his Fishery at Lamberton, his Iron Works and many other schemes. . . . 
He was industrious in the most unremitting degree. No man planned a scheme so well 
as he nor executed them better. He loved the country better than his family. . . . 
His airs and action was much after the french manner, ever on the wing and fluttering, 
never long fi.xed, frequently courting, frequently whispering as if to make the person be- 
lieve they were in his confidence, a little too severe in enmity and not grateful for good 
offices, high strung and selfish, unwilling to forgive an injury Timorous al- 
most to cowardice, whimsical to the borders of insanity, which he inherited maternally, 
and was sometimes perceived to be of unsettled mind, especially for some years before his 
death." The high terms in which Gov. Franklin in 1764 recommended the appointment 
of Read to be Chief Justice permanently, indicates that he differed widely from Leaming 
in his estimation of the Judge's qualifications. — N. f. Archives, IX., 427. Mr. Austin N. 
Hungerford, a local historian, writes : "The most noted ironmaster in West Jersey prior 
to the Revolution was the Hon. Charles Read. In the year 1766 he built Batsto furnace 
on Batsto creek, a branch of Little Egg Harbor river, about si.x miles northeast from the 
present village of Elwood,on the Camden and Atlantic railroad. An act of the Legislature, 
passed June 20, 1765, enabled him to erect a dam across Batsto creek, and the same act 
authorized John Estell to erect a dam across Atsion river, at Atsion, where Charles Read 
afterwards erected Atsion furnace. Taunton furnace, erected by Mr. Read, was built in 
1766 in Evesham township, on Rancocas creek. It was conducted by him until the assign- 
ment of his property on June 2, 1773. All these enterprises were in Burlington county."— 
Szvank's Iron in All Ages, Philadelphia, 1892, 156-7 ; Hist. Little Egg Harbor Township, 
by Leah Blackman [Camden, 1880], 416-417. He is also said to have built a furnace 
at Etna, Burlington zowrW-y.— Swank, 158. The last mention of him as sitting 



— i6 — 

in the Council is May 20, 1773, when he drew his quarter's salary — £25 — as second 
Justice of the Supreme Court. — A'. _/. ArckiTcs, XVIII., 354. Writing Feb. 28, 1774, 
Gov. Franklin states that Charles Read had removed to St. Croix, "where he intends to 
settle." — /6.,X., 426. In Aaron Learning's diary, under date of November 14, 1775, he 
gives us this note on the death of Read: "When I was in Burlington Jacob Read in- 
formed me that his father the Honourable Charles Read Esqr. died the 27th of Decem- 
ber 1774 at Martinburg on Tar River 20 miles back of Bath Town in North Carolina where 
he had kept a small shop of goods for some time." — Pcnn. Mag-., XVII., igo. Possibly 
there is some error here. If not, the diarist chronicles a strange ending for a man who 
during so many years had been so prominent in New Jersey affairs. The clue may be in 
his having been "whimsical to the borders of insanity." 

Samuel Smith was the eldest son of Richard, son of Samuel, of Bramham, Yorkshire, 
England, who came to Burlington, New Jersey, in 1694. Richard was a member of the 
Assembly for many years. In 1747 he was appointed a member of the Council, and died 
while attendin one of the sessions of that body, at Perth Amboy, in November, 1751. 
The subject of this note was born "12th Mo., 13, 1720" (Feb. 24, 1721, N. S.). Like his 
ancestors for several generations he was a member of the Society of Friends. — T/u- Bur- 
lington Smiths, by R. Morris Smith, Philadelphia, 1877, 10, 100-3, 209; N.J. Archives, 
VII., 6. He was Treasurer of the Western Division of New Jersey, as early as 1751, and 
perhaps before that, resigning in 1775. — .Minutes Provincial Congress, 1775, pp. 137-8. He 
and his father had always taken the side of the people against the aggressions of the Pro- 
prietaries, so that when Governor Belcher, who had been repeatedly a partaker of the 
hospitalities of Samuel and John Smith, recommended the former for a seat in the Coun- 
cil, in 1751, to succeed his father, he was severely reprimanded by the Lords of Trade; 
nevertheless, he struggled for nearly two years against admitting Lewis Morris Ashfield, 
who had been named for the place instead of Mr. Smith.— A'. J. .Archives, VII., 586, 608 ; 
VIII., Part I., 126-7. Mr. Smith accumulated a great deal of material for a history of 
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and of the Society of Friends in both those Provinces, but 
finally selected and published only that covering the early history of New Jersey, which 
was printed in 1765, at Burlington, whither James Parker accommodatingly removed his 
printing press from Woodbridge for the purpose, returning wlien the task was completed. 
Hist. Pennsylvania, by Robert Proud, Philadelphia, 1797, Vol. I., 4; Proc. N.J. Hist. .Soc, 
September, 1849, 102 ; Hist, of Printing, by Isaiah Thomas, Worcester, Mass., i8io. Vol. 
II., 121. The original manuscripts he prepared are now in the possession of the New 
Jersey Historical Society. He married, in nth mo., 1741, Jane, daughter of Joseph Kirk- 
bride, who bore him Joseph, Abigail, Sarah, Richard. The last-named was the father of 
Samuel J. Smith, the "Bard of Hickory Grove." — The Burlington Smiths, 209-10 ; Miscel- 
laneous Writings of the late Samuel J. Smith, Philadelphia and Boston, 1S36, 9-10. 
Samuel Smith, the hisiorian, died at Burlington, July 13, 1776, after a short illness. The 
Pennsylvania Gazette, in announcing his death, remarked that Mr. Smith was "a worthy 
and useful member of the community. In his several public stations he acquitted himself 
with ability, integrity and unblemished reputation; nor was his character less respecta- 
ble, when considered as a member of the religious society of the people called Quakers." 
See also Biographical Sketch by Jolin Jay Smi'.h, prefi.\cd to tlie reprint of Smith's His- 
tory. 



Burlington County— 

Barzillai Ncwbold, 
Henry Pax son. 

Barzillai Newbold lived at Mansfield, upper Burlington, in a brick house which is 
still (February, 1805) occupied by a Newbold. He was first elected to the Assembly from 
Burlington in T751, and was re-elected in 1754. He died about August, 1757, Samuel 
Stokes being elected in his place. His will, dated January 10, 1757, was proved August 
29, 1757- 

Henry Paxson represented Burlington County in the Nineteenth Assembly, 1754-1761; in 
the Twenty-first, 1769-1772, and in the Twenty-second, 1772-75. He probably lived in the 
neighborhood of Mount Holly; he was executor of William Murrell, in 1750, and of 
Thomas Shinn, in 1753, both formerly of that place. He was, perhaps, a descendant of 
either William or James Paxson, who came from the Parish of March Gibbon, Bucks, 
England, about 1684, and settled in Bucks county, Penn. His will, dated July 7, 1778, 
codicil Sept. 5,1778, describes him as of Northampton, Burlington county. There is no 
record of the date of its probate. 

Gloucester County- 

Jo Jin La (id, 
Samuel Clement. 

"Of John Ladd, the father, and John Ladd, the son, much appears in the various rec- 
ords and traditions of their times, which proves them to have been conspicuous persons. 
They were prominent in the political and religious matters that surrounded them, and the 
subjects of much hard talk, for which some of their defamers appear in no very enviable 
position." — Clemenfs First Settlers of Newton Township, nz. The father was a prac- 
tical surveyor, and assisted in laying out the city of Philadelphia for William Penn, but in 
compensation preferred £y) cash to a square of land in the embryo city, which moved 
Penn to say, "Friend John, thou art a Ladd by name, and a Ladd in comprehension. Dost 
thou not know that this will become a great city .>"—/<'». , 143-5. John Ladd, second, was a 
surveyor and man of prominence for many years in Salem and Gloucester Counties. In 
1740 he interested himself in gettingevidenceagainst Robert Jenkins, of Salem, arrested for 
having counterfeit money in his possession. — Pe?m. Archives, L, 623. He was first elect- 
ed a member of the Assembly from Gloucester in 1754, and while still a member of that 
body, he was recommended by Governor Belcher in 1758 for a seat in the Council.— ^V.y. 
Archives, IX. , 127. In 1762 he was appointed one of the Surrogates for West Jersey.—/^. , 
359. In 1763 Governor Franklin recommended him for appointment as Councillor, say- 
ing: "Mr. Ladd is a Gent" of Fortune and unblemished Character, was formerly in the 
Assembly where he was always on the side of the Administration, and is now one of the 
principal Magistrates of Gloucester County, which Office he has long executed with Abil- 
ity, and Credit to himself."— /<!'., 387. Mr. Ladd was appointed to the Council August 31, 
1763.—/^., 394; XVII., 360. He died December 20, l^^o.—ib. , X., 224. 

3 



— iS — 

Samuel Clement was a great-grandson of Gregory Clement, a citizen of London , a mer- 
chant, and trader with Spain ; he was elected to Parliament in 1646, and sat as one of the 
judges at the trial of King Charles I.; for this he was arrested. May 26, t66o, tried and 
barbarously executed. One of his sons, James, emigrated to Long Island in 1670. His 
son Jacob, b. 1678, who m. Ann, dau. of Samuel Harrison, purchased land at Gloucester, 
and lived there several years, plying his trade as shoemaker. His son Samuel m. Rebecca, 
riau. of Joseph and Catherine Collins ; in 1735 Joseph Collins and wife conveyed to Sam- 
uel Clement and wife a large tract of land at Haddonfield. " Upon this property Samuel 
Clement lived for many years, a consistent member of the Society of Friends, and a par- 
ticipant in the political affairs of his day and generation. Being a practical surveyor, he 
was intrusted with the running and settlement of the several township lines of the Coun- 
ty of Gloucester, and also of the boundaries between that and Burlington and Salem 
Counties. This was done in 1765," and with skill and fidelity. — Clfvieni' s First Settlers of 
Newton Township ^ 267-74. He met with a singular accident in 1737, when he was struck 
by lightning while at work in his barn, but fortunately was not seriously injured. — N. 
J. Archives, XL, 505, 507. Elected to the Assembly in 1754, he was re-elected in 1761, 
serving as late as May 10, 1768. — /6., XVIL, 494. The Samuel Clement, of Newton, G.lou- 
cester county, whose will, dated Aug. 2, 1765, was proved Oct. 2, 1765, obviously was not 
the Hon. Samuel Clement, member of the Assembly, who was living in 1768. 

Salem County— 

Williaui Hancock, 
Ebenezer Miller. 

William Hancock, sen. , came from England in 1677, with his wife Isabella, and two 
sons, John and William, and soon after his arrival took possession of an allotment of 1,000 
acres of land on the south side of AUoways creek, Cape May county. On his death he 
devised his real estate to his wife, who dying ten years later devised the same to her son 
John. He was a man of great energy, and added largely to his estate. In 1708 he built a 
bridge across AUoways creek, and the settlement in tlie neighborhood has been known 
ever since as Hancock's Bridge. John died about 1725, leaving one son, William, who came 
into possession of one of the largest landed estates in the county, lying mostly in AUoways 
Creek, Elsinborough and Penn's Neck. He married ist, Sarah, dau. of Nathaniel Cham- 
bles, jun., of AUoways Creek ; 2d, Sarah, dau. of Joshua Thompson, of Elsinborough. In 
1734 he built himself a large and substantial brick dwelling, which in 1876 whs still stand- 
ing, in good repair. He was elected to the Tenth Assembly, to succeed James Whitten, 
deceased ; he was re-elected in 1738, 1740, 1743, 1744, 1745, 1746, 1749, 1751, 1754 and 1761, 
serving more than twenty-five years continuously, or so late as Feb. 20, 1764. On Aug. 21 , 
1767, he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Salem county, which office he held until 
his death. One night in March, 1778, Col. Mawhood made a raid with a party of tor>- ref- 
ugees on Hancock's Bridge, and finding the American picket guard in Judge Hancock's 
house, massacred two-thirds of the inmates of the house, among them several Friends. 
The venerable Judge Hancock, himself a Friend, was mortally wounded, and died a few 
hours later. — Shourds's Fenwick Colony, Z^; Johnson's Salem; JV. /. ArchiTcs, passim; 
etc. 



-19 — 

Ebenezer Miller was b. at Cohansey, in 1702, son of Joseph Miller, a Friend, who came 
from Connecticut in 1698. The latter was a surveyor, and probably died about 1730, when 
he was succeeded in the business by his son. Ebenezer was first elected to the Assembly 
from Salem County in 1754; he was re-elected in 1761 and in 1769, serving until his death 
which took place at Greenwich in 1774. In 1724 he prob. m. Sarah Collier. Issue: i. Eb- 
enezer, b. i5lh gthmo., 1725; 2. Hannah, b. 1728; 3. Josiah, b. 1731; 4. Andrew, b. 1732; 
5. William, b. 1735; 6 JohnC.,b. 1737; 7 Mark, b. 1740; 8. Sarah, b. 1743; 9. Rebecca, b. 
17th 5th mo., 1747. Ebenezer was a Friend. 

Cape May County— 

Jacob Spicer, 
Aaron Leaminz. 

Jacob Spicer was a grandson of Samuel Spicer (son of Thomas and Michal Spicer). b. 
in New England prior to 1640; m. Esther, dau. of John and Mary Tilton, at Gravesend, 
Long Island, where he then lived, 21st of 3d mo., 1665. In 1685, being still of Gravesend, 
he bought a tract of 500 acres of land, on the north side of the mouth of Cooper's creek, 
and fronting on the Delaware river, in the present Stockton township, Camden county, 
and settled there with his family in 1686. His son, Jacob Spicer, second, b. 1668, removed 
to Cape May county as early as 1691 ; he was one of the representatives of that county 
in the Assembly, 1709-23; was Surrogate, 1723-41, and for many years was a Judge of 
the county courts, until his death, April 17, 1741. He was known as Col. Jacob Spicer. 
His son, Jacob Spicer, //«/ra', was b. 1716. He was a merchant, carrying on an exten- 
sive trade for many years. He was elected to the Fourteenth Assembly, from Cape 
May County, in 1744, and was re-elected in 1745, 1746, 1749, 1750, 1754 and 1761. "He 
bore a prominent pari in the proceedings and business of the house, and was appointed, 
in connection with Aaron Learning," to compile the Grants and Concessions, and the 
Laws of East and West Jersey prior to 1702, "Learning and Spicer's Collection," 
published in 1758, being the result of their labors. " He was a man of exemplary habits, 
of strong and vigorous imagination, and strictly faithful in his business relations with his 
fellowmen." — Clement'' s First Settlers Newton Toiunshi/>, 293-99. Nevertheless, the same 
accurate historian tells how, in 1752, the people of Cape May having taken steps to secure 
an important grant from the West Jersey Society, and being tardy about it, Jacob Spicer 
obtained the grant by deed dated August 7, 1756, taking advantage of the agent's conviv- 
ial habits to secure the concession for a merely nominal sum. The people were indignant, 
and Spicer was vigorously denounced, and even his old associate, Aaron Learning, refused 
to recognize him after a public meeting held in 1761, at which Spicer failed to satisfy his 
neighbors. — Proc. West Jersey Surveyors'' Association, 145. He died Sept. 17, 1765, at Cold 
Spring Neck, Cape May County. He kept a diary full of minute observations on men and 
events, some extracts from which are published in i N. J. Hist. Soc. Proceedings, III., 104, 
193. The epitaph on his tombstone declared : 

If aught that's good or great could save, 

Spicer had never seen the grave. 

Aaron Leaming was a grandson of Christopher Leamyeng, an Englishman, and Hes- 
ter Burnet, who was b. in New England. Christopher came to America in 1670, and 



20 

landed near Boston, whence he removed to East Hampton, Long Island, and about 1691 
to Cape May, where he plied his trade as cooper, and at fitting times went whaling. He 
d. May 3, 1695, and was buried at Cape May Town. His son, Aaron (ist), was b. at Sag 
Harbor, L. 1., Oct. 12, 1687 ; was bound out as a shoemaker, but came to Salem, N. J., 
when about 16, and in 1703 settled at Goshen, Cape May County, where he raised cattle, 
bought a shallop and did some trading by water. He was a Justice of the Peace, Clerk of 
the County Courts (172s), and in October, 1727, was elected to the Ninth Assembly, be- 
ing re-elected in 1730, 1738, i7ito and 1743, serving continuously until July. 1744. In 1734 he 
was admitted to practice law in the Cape May courts. He m. Lydia Shaw, wid. of William 
Shaw, and dau. of John Parsons, Oct. 12, 1714. By her he had four children — Aaron (2d), 
Jeremiah, Matthias and Elizabeth. Aaron Learning (2d) "was one of the most prominent 
and influential men the county (Cape May) ever produced. The family lost nothing in 
caste through him. He was a heavy land operator, and a member of the Legislature for 
thirty years. From the manuscript (diar>') he left behind him, which is quite voluminous, 
it would appear that he was a man of great industry and much natural good sense, well 
educated for the times, and withal a little tinged with aristocracy. No man ever received 
greater honors from the county, and none, perhaps, better deserved them." — Bfasley's 
Hist, of Cape May Conniy^ 176-17S; Johnson s Salem County^ 116. He was elected to the 
Fifteenth Assembly, in 1745, and re-elected in 1746, 1751, 1754, 1761 and 1769. By an un- 
usual coincidence, he was associated nearly all the time with Jacob Spicer, who like him- 
self was the son of a former Assemblyman from Cape May County. His tombstone bore 
this inscription : 

In memory of Aaron Learning, Esq., who represented this county in Assembly, 30 
years. Died Aug. 28th, 1780, age of 65 years, i mo., 11 days. 
Beneath this stone, here lies a name 
That once had titles, honor, wealth and fame : 
How loved, how honored, now avails thee not, 
To whom related, or by whom begot ; « 

A heap of dust alone remains of thee, 
'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be. 

Hunterdon County— 

Joseph Yard, 
Peter Middagh, 

Joseph Yard was a son of William Yard, who about 16SS came to America from near 
Exeter, Devonshire, England, settling at Philadelphia. About 1700 he removed to Tren- 
ton, and in 1712 bought of Mahlon Stacy two acres of land on Second (now State) street, 
extending southerly to the Assunpink, and between South Broad and Warren streets, 
building his residence on Front street. He also bought other large tracts of land, so that 
when a name was to be given to the place it was a question whether it should be called 
Yard-town or Trent-town. Joseph Yard was clerk of the Hunterdon County Common 
Pleas, in 1733-34; was Clerk of the Board of Justices and Freeholders, 1739-63 ; he gave 
a part of the site of the First Presbyterian Church on State street, and was named as one 
of the Trustees of the church in the charter of Sept. 8, 1756, continuing in that office until 
his death, serving part of the time as Clerk of the Board, He served but one term in the 



Legislature, 1754-61. In 1755 he was designated one of the commissioners for procuring 
supplies for the troops. He died in 1763. In his will he bequeathed ^100 to the College 
of New Jersey. His wife was Anne, dau. of John Dagworthy, of Lawrence. See Cooley's 
Genealogy of the Early Settlers of Trenton and Ewing, 316-17 ; Hall's First Pros. Ch. 
Trenton, 157; Hist. Hunterdon and Mercer Counties, passim. 

Peter Middagh was a grandson of Aert Middagh or Meddach, who emigrated previous 
to 1657 from Heikop, in the Province of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, returned to the 
Fatherland, and back to America once more in the ship Beaver, in 1661. He m. Breekje 
(Bridget) Hansen Bergen, and in 1664, both joined the Reformed Dutch Church at Brook- 
lyn, where he lived and owned considerable property. His third child was Jan, bap. Dec. 
24, 1662, in Brooklyn; he was called Jan Aertsen (i. e. son of Aert), of the Ferry, but 
signed his name Jan Middagh. He m. ist, Ariaentje Blyck, dau. of Cornells de Potter, 
and wid. of Johannis Nevius ; 2d, Jan. 4, 1690, Ehzabeth Smit, wid. of Peter Smit, of 
Jamaica, L. I.; his will was proved June 6, 1709. By his second wife he had among other 
children, Pieter, who settled on the Raritan, whither he had been preceded by his uncle, 
Aert Aertsen, who had removed thither as early as 16S5. Most of his brothers and sisters 
settled in the same neighborhood. His sister Helena, b. about 1677, m. Christopher 
Hooglandt, who in 1711 bought of Cornelius Powell a tract of 104 acres in Piscataway 
township, on the east side of the Raritan River, and in 1727 bought of William Beek- 
man 250 acres on the Millstone river. Pieter's brother Johannig bought 3,000 acres of land 
at Basking Ridge, in 1717. He was called Jan Aertsen, but in 1738 signed his name John 
Arrison ; he is thought to have been the John Harrison of Perth Amboy, who was the 
first Sheriff of Middlesex County, and who in 1705 gave twelve acres of land to St. Peter's 
church at Penh Amboy, but this seems doubtful. — BcrgciCs Kiii^s County Settlers^ 205-6 ; 
The Hoagland Family in America, 61, 63, 172; SteeW s Hist. Discourse Re/. Ch. New 
Bi-tmsivick., 206, 209. Peter Middagh was elected to the Assembly only in 1754. He 
seems to have been identified with the Reformed Dutch church at North Branch, now the 
Readington church, and sided with the Conferentie party of that denomination, in the ec- 
clesiastical contest in the middle of the last century. 



INDEX. 



Acquackanonk, 13 
Aertsen (Middagh), Aert, 21 
Alexander, Elizabeth, 9 ; James, cj, 10 
Allinson's Laws, 8 
Alloways creek, 18 
American Historical Register, 7 
American Magazine, 10 
Anderson, John, 12 
Annard, Alexander, 14 
Antigua, Isle of, 14 
Arrison (Aertsen), John, 21 
Ashfield, Lewis Morris, 16 
Assunpink, 20 

Atsion, 15; furnace, 15; river, 15 
Austin, James Osborne, 12 
Avondale, 11 

Backer— Jacob, 11; Mrs. Margaret, 11 
Baldwin family, 11 

Baptist Church at Cohansey, 12 ; at Middle- 
town, 12 ; at Newport, R. I., 12 
Bard, Peter, 14 
Basking Ridge, 21 
Bath 'fown,N. C, 16 
Batsto creek, 15 ; furnace, 15 
Beasley's History of Cape May County, 20 
Beaver, ship, 21 
Beekman, William, 21 
Belcher, (iovernor Jonathan, 16, 17 
Bergen, I3reekje Hansen. 21 
Bergen County, 13 
Bergen's Kings County Settlers, 21 
Bernard, (iov. Francis, 9 
Berry family, 11 
Bethlehem township, 9 

Blackman, Leah, History of Little Egg Har- 
bor Township by, 15 

Blyck, Ariacnije, 21 

Bond, Anne, 14 

Boone, Mr. [Gov. Thomas], 15 

Borden, Sarah, iz 

Boston, Mass., 12 

Bound Brook, 12 

Bourne, H. R. Fox, History of English 
Newspapers by, 9 

Bradbury, John, 11 ; Richaid, 11 

Bradford, William, 10 

Bramham, Yorkshire, England, 16 

Brooklyn, Reformed Dutch Church at, 21 ; 
ferry, 21 

Bucks, England, 17; Pennsylvania, 17 

Burlington, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 

Burlington and Gloucester Regiment, 14 

Burlington Smiths, 16 

Burnet— Hestei , 19; Gov. William, 7 

Camden county, 19 

Camden and Atlantic Railroad, 15 

Campbell, John, 8 

Cape May, 18, 19,20 

Caven Point, Hudson county, 13 

Chambles, Nathaniel, Jun., 18; Sarah, 18 

Charles L, King, trial of, 18 

Cheescguakes, n 

Christ Church, Philadelphia, 14 



Clark, Rev. Mr., 12 

Clement — Ann Harrison, Gregorj-, James, 
Rebecca Collins, 18; Samuel, 17, 18 

Clement's First Settlers of Newton Town- 
ship, 17, iS, 19 

Cohansey, 12, 19 ; Baptist church at, 12 

Cold Spring Neck, 19 

Cole family, 12 

College of New Jersey, 21 

Collier, Sarah, 19 

Collins — Catherine, Joseph, Rebecca, 18 

Committee of Safety, 13 

Connecticut, 19 

Continental Congress, 9 

Cooley's Genealogy of the Early Settlers of 
Trenton and Ewing, 21 

Cooper's Creek, 19 

Council of New York, 7 

Couvenhoven, Hester, 13 

Crane. Abigail, 11 

Crosswicks, Indians at, 14 

Dagworthy — Anne, John, 21 

Defoe, Daniel, 10 

DeHaerdt , Dehart — Balthazar, Abigail 
Crane, Jacob, Matthias, 11 

Delaware river, n, 19 

DePotter, Cornelius, 21 

Diary of Aaron Learning, 14 

Dorr's History Christ Church, Philadel- 
phia, 14 

Duer, William A., 15 

East Hampton, L. I., 20 

East Jersey Council of Proprietors, 10 

Easton Conference, 14 

Edinburgh, 7 

Edwards, Morgan, History of New Jersey 
Baptists by, 12 

Elizabeth — 10; Hatfield's History of, 11; 
St. John's Church yard at, 10, 11 

Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery, 10 

Elsinborough, 18 

El wood, 15 

English Newpapers, History of, 9 

Episcopal Churches of America, proposed 
union of, 9 

Essex County, 11, 13 

Estell, John, 15 

Etna, Burlington county, 15 

Evening Post, London, 10 

Evesham Township, 15 

Exeter, Devonshire, England, 20 

Fisher, Hendriqk, 12 

Flatbush,L. I., 13 

Flying Post, London, 10 

Fort Niagara, capture of, 8 

F'rame Meeting House, o 

Franklin, Gov. William, 15, 16, 17 

French War, 9 

Friends, Society of, 16, 18 

Gildemeester, Christoplier, 10 

Gloucester, 17, 18 

Grants and Concessions, 19 

Gravesend, L. I., 19 



Greenwich, ig 

Gordon's History of N. J., 8 

Goshen, 20 

Hackensack, 1-; 

Haddonfield, 18 

Halfpenny Post, London, 10 

Hall's History First Presbyterian Church of 
Trenton, 21 

Hancock — Isabella, John, Sarah Chambles, 
Sarah Thompson, William, 18 

Hancock's Bridge, 18 

Harrison (Aertsen, Middagh) — Ann, 18; 
John, 21 ; Samuel, iS 

Heikop, Utrecht, Netherlands, 21 

Hendricks, Cornelia, 13 

" Henry and Francis," ship, 7 

Hills's Church in Burlington, 14 

Historical Magazine, 8 

History of Paterson, 11, 13 

History of the Late War in North America, 
by Thomas Mante, 8 

History of the Sufferings of the Church of 
Scotland, by Robert Wodrow, 7 

Hoagland Family in America, The, 21 

Hoboken, 9 

Holmes — Helena Lawrence, 12; James, n, 
12; Jonathan, Obadiah, Sarah Bor- 
den, 12 

Home, Archibald, 14 

Hooglandt — Christopher, Helena Middagh, 
21 ; Hendrick, 13 ; John (Johannes), 
12, 13 

Hudson county, 13 

Hungerford, Austin N., 15 

Hunter, Gov. Robert, 7 

Hunterdon county, 9, 20 ; History of, 21 

Jamaica, L. L, 21 

Jamison — David, Elizabeth, 7 

Jenkins, Robert, 17 

" Jersey Blues," 8, 9 

Johnson's History of Salem, 18 

Johnson, Sit William, Diary of, 8 ; Life of, 8 

Johnston, Johnstone — Andrew, 8 ; Elizabeth 
Jamison, 7; Euphemia, 8; Colonel 
John, 7, 8 ; Eupham Scot, 7 ; Dr. 
John, 7 

Johnston's Jersey Regiment, Col., 8 

Keith, George, 14 

Kirkbride — Jane. Joseph, 16 

Knox's Historical Journal, 8 

Ladd, John, 17 

Lamberton, fishery at, 15 

Lawrence — Elisha, 11,12; Helena, John, 12 ; 
Robert, 11 

Leaming — Aaron, 16, 19, 20; Diary of, 14, 
15; Christopher, 19 ; Elizabeth, Jere- 
miah, Lydia Shaw, Matthias, 20 

Leaming and Spicer's Collection, 19 

Lebanon Valley, 9 

Leonard, Thomas, 12 

Little Egg Harbor Township, History of, by 

Leah Blackman, 15 
Little Egg Harbor river, 15 
Livingston — Chancellor, 9 ; Mary Stevens, 9 

Lodi, 13 
London, 14, 18 

London Newspapers, g, 10, note 

Long Island, 18 

Ludlow family, 11 

Madeira Islands, 9 

Mansfield, 17 

Mante, Thomas, History of Late War by, 8 

March Gibbon, England, 17 

Martinburg, N. C, 16 

Messler's History of Somerset County, 13 



Middagh (Aertsen, Harrison)— Aert, Helena, 
Jan, Johannis, 2: ; Peter, 20, 21 

Middlesex county, England, 8 

Middlesex cour.ty, 7, g, 10; militia of, 11 ; 
Sheriff of, 21 

Middlctown, 12 ; Baptist church at, 12 

Miller — Andrew, ig; Ebenezer, 18, 19; Han- 
nah, John C, Joseph, Josiah, Mark, 
Rebecca, Sarah, Sarah Collier, Wil- 
liam. 19 

Millstone river, 13, 21 

Monmouth county, n ; Sheriff of, 7 ; Histo- 
ry of, 12 ; militia of, 10 

Moonachie, <^ 

Morris, Lewis, Papers of, 14; Robert Hun- 
ter, Chief Justice, 14, 15 

Mount Holly, 17 

Murrell, William, 17 

Nelson, William, History of Paterson by, 
I', 13 

Nevill— John, 9, 10; Mary,g; Samuel, 9, 10; 
Sarah, 9 

Nevius, Johannis, 21 

New American Magazine, 10 

New Amsterdam, Director-General of, 11 

New Barbadoes, Bergen county, 13 

Nevvbold, Barzillai, 17 

New Brunswick, o 

New Jersey Archives, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15 

New Jersey Convention of 1787,9; Histor- 
ical Society, 16 

Newport, R. I., First Baptist Church of, 12 

Newton, Gloucester county, 18 

New York, 7, 9 

New York Colonial Documents, 7, 8 

New York Genealogical and Biographical 
Record. 7, 8, g 

New York Historical Society, 10 ; Collec- 
tions, 8 

New York Mercury, 8 

New York Regiment, 8 

Niagara, Fort, siege of, 8 

Northampton, Burlington County, 17 

North Branch Reformed Church, 21 

Ogden, John, n 

Oneida station, 8 

Palatinate, 12 

Parker — James, 10, 16 ; Col. John, 8 

Paterson, History of, 11, 13 

Paxson — Henrj', James, WiUiam, 17 

Penn, William, 14, 17 

Penn's Neck, 18 

Pennsylvania, History of, 16; Historical So- 
ciety, 10; Archives, 10; Colonial Rec- 
ords, 14; Gazette, 16; Magazme, 14 

Penzance, man of war, 14 

Persons, John, 20 

Perth Amboy, 7, 8. g, lo, 16, 21 ; Mayor of, 
10 ; St. John's Church at, 11 ; St. Pe- 
ter's Church at, 9, 10, 21 

Philadelphia, 10, 12, 14, 17, 20; Common 
Council Minutes, 14; Marriage Rec- 
ords of Christ Church at, 10 

Piscataway township. 21 

Pitlochie, Laird of, 7 

Port-au-Prince, 11 

Postboy, The — London. 10 

Postman, The — London, 10 

Powell, Cornelius, 21 

Prideaux, Brigadier-General, 8 

Printing, Thomas's History of, 16 

Preakness, 13 

Preston, Lancashire. England, 12 

Proud's History of Pennsylvania, 14. 16 
Provincial Congress, 9, 11, 13 



24 — 



Provincial Convention of 1776, ii 

Rancocas Creek, 15 

Raritan river, 11,21 

Read — Charles, 14, 15, i6 ; Jacob 16 

Readington Reformed Church, 21 

Rehoboth, Mass., 12 

Revolutionary War, 11 

Rhode Island, Genealogical Dictionary of, 

Rocky Hill,N. J., 9 

Sag Harbor, L. I., 20 

Salem, Salem county, 12, 17, 18, 20 

Salem, Mass., 12 

Saltar, Richard, 15 

Schuyler, Col. Peter, 8 

Scot — Eupham, 9 ; George, 7 

Scotschester, Monmouth county, 7 

Secaucus, 13 

Shaw — Lydia, William, 20 

Shinn, Thomas, 17 

Shourds's Fenwick Colony, 18 

Smit — Elizabeth, Peter, 21 

Smith — Abigail, John, John Jay, Joseph, 
Richard, R. Morris, 16; Samuel, 14, 
16; Samuel J., 16; Miscellaneous Wri 
tings of, 16 : Sarah, 16; William, 15 

Smith's History of New Jersey, 7, 14 

Smyth, Frederick, 15 

Society of Friends, 16 

Somerset County, 12 

Sonmans — Barthea Wilson, Peter, Dr. Pe- 
ter, 10; Sarah Nevill, 9, 10 

South Brunswick, ir 

Spicer — Esther Tilton, Jacob, Michal, Sam- 
uel, Thomas, 19 

Stacy, Mahlon, 20 

Stafford, England, g 

Stamp Act, g 

St. Croi.x, 16 

Steele's Historical Discourse Reformed 
Church New Brunswick, 21 

Stevens — Elizabeth Alexander, g; John, 7, 
8 ; Col. John, Mary, Richard F. , g 

Stevens Mansion, g 



Stirling, Lord, 9, 15 ; Life of, 15 

Stockton township, ig 

Stokes, Samuel, 17 

Stone, William L., Life of Sir William John- 
son, by, 8 

Stuyvesant, Petrus, 11 

Swank's Iron in All Ages, 15 

Tar River, N. C, 16 

Taunton furnace, 15 

Third River, 11 

Thomas, Isaiah, History of Printing by, 16 

Thompson — Joshua, Sarah, 18 

Ticonderoga, attack on French at, 8 

Tilton — Esther, John, Mary, ig 

Trenton, 20; First Presbyterian Church at, 
20 

Tucker, Samuel, 13 

LTpper Freehold, 11, 12 

Van Dien, Hendrikje, 13 

Van Giesen — Antje, Gerrit, Hendrick, Hen- 
drickje, Isaac, Joannes, Joris, Rachel, 
Rynier, Samuel, Soplironia, Willem, 13 

Van Riper family, 1 1 

Van Wagenen, Annetje, 13 

Vreeland — Enoch, George, Michael, 13 

Wager, Sir Charles, 14 

Western Division of New Jersey, 16 

West Indies, g, 14 

West Jersey Society, 19 

West Jersey, Surrogate of, 17 

West Jersey Surveyors, Proceedings of As- 
sociation, ig 

Wetherill, John, g, 10 

Whitehall Evening Post, London, 10 

Whitehead's Perth Amboy, 7, 8, g, 10 

Whitten, James, 18 

Wilson, Barthea, 10 

Wodrovv, Robert, History of Sufferings of 
Church of Scotland by, 7 

Woodbridge, 10, 16 

Wynne's British Empire, 8 

Yard — Anne Dagworthy, 21 ; Joseph, Wil- 
liam, 20. 



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